NORRISTOWN, PA — The Montgomery County Planning Commission (MCPC) is inviting the public to attend an event on municipal land stewardship and management on Monday, October 30, 2023, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Schwenksville Borough Hall, located at 300 Main Street in Schwenksville, PA.
Over the past 30 years, Montgomery County municipalities have had tremendous success preserving open space to create parks, trails, and greenways. Recently, there has been an increased focus on how to best manage these lands to enhance their ecological integrity while respecting the impact on municipal maintenance expenses and staff capacity.
To support this growing emphasis on land stewardship, from both a public and private land perspective, this event will reinforce the importance of open space interconnectedness and the environmental and social values it contributes to the overall landscape.
The event will give an overview of the Montgomery County Multi-regional Greenways and Stewardship Study, which was developed by MCPC in collaboration with Natural Lands. The goal of the study, consisting of separate documents for each of the County’s four regional planning organizations, was to create an interconnected greenway system throughout the multi-regional area, focusing on land stewardship and supporting the area’s ecotourism strategy for economic development. This presentation will stress the necessity, value, and importance of interconnectedness, resiliency, and sustainability.
A highlight of the event will be a discussion about the varying degrees of land stewardship practices that municipalities can consider. The following panel of land stewardship professionals will share their experiences in Montgomery County, lessons learned, and how each community can adapt or initiate their own practices:
- Leigh Altadonna, Ed.D., President, Wyncote Audubon Society (Bird Town Pennsylvania)
- Thomas Blomstrom, Director of Parks and Recreation, Whitemarsh Township
- Kelsey Boyd, Stewardship Planning Program Manager, Natural Lands
- Kevin Crilley, Environmental Educator, Montgomery County Parks, Trails, and Historic Sites
If interested in attending this event, please register at www.montgomerycountypa.gov/PlanningSmarter.
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